US President Donald Trump has said that the tightening of sanctions against Russia by the United States could damage the peace process between Ukraine and Russia. He said this while speaking to journalists at the White House on 19 May.
“I think there is a chance to do something. And if you do it (impose sanctions – ed.), it can make the situation much worse. But there may come a time when that happens,” Trump said.
He also said he believes in Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s desire to end the war, “I think he’s had enough.” According to Trump, otherwise, he would not have had the conversation with Putin.
As for Ukraine, the US president said he will be able to assess whether it is doing enough for a ceasefire in a few weeks.
“I’d rather give you an answer in about two weeks because I can’t say” yes “or” no ” I think Zelensky is a strong guy, he’s not an easy guy to deal with. But I think he wants to stop but I might rather answer that question in two or four weeks,” Trump said.
The US president said on the eve that his conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin went “very well” and that Russia and Ukraine should “immediately” begin talks on a ceasefire and ending the war.
The US president added that he had reported the results of the talks between Vladimir Zelensky and leaders of the coalition of the willing.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who along with other European leaders was part of the telephone talks with US President Donald Trump, said Europe would increase sanctions pressure on Moscow.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said after that conversation that a package of sanctions from the EU is expected if Moscow does not agree to a ceasefire. As for the US sanctions package, it is “a different story”, he said.
“here we need all of us to work hard together with the United States of America to make sure that at some point that they can, that they impose the appropriate sanctions. That will help a lot-banking sanctions, energy sanctions. It depends very much on America whether Putin and the Russian army will further capitalise on this war or not,” he added.
Putin told reporters after a phone call with Trump on 19 May that Russia and Ukraine “should find compromises that suit both sides.” He said, “Russia is ready to work with Kiev on a memorandum on a future peace treaty.”
These phone conversations came after Russian and Ukrainian representatives met in Istanbul for face-to-face talks. It was the first meeting between the two sides since the first weeks after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The Istanbul meetings, which included separate conversations with U.S. officials, made little progress but resulted in an agreement to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war. There was no commitment to a cessation of hostilities, and over the weekend Russia launched one of the largest drone strikes in Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian side.